Hyleas Fountain, a junior from the University of Georgia, won three of four events on the first day of
the Sea Ray Relays Heptathlon to take a 94-point lead over unattached Jennifer Hoppe on Wednesday afternoon at a cold and rainy
Tom Black Track.

Fountain, the 2003 Southeastern Conference indoor pentathlon champion, led off the day by taking first in the 100m hurdles in
13.63 to collect 1031 points. She followed that up by claiming the high jump with a leap of 5-9.25/1.76m to accumulate 928 more.

After stumbling to an eighth-place finish and 531 points in the shot put with a throw of 32-10.50/10.02m, Fountain closed the
day in strong fashion. The Enola, Pa., native zipped to top honors in the 200-meter dash in 24.79. Her tally of 906 in that race
boosted her total to 3396 and gave her a small cushion over Hoppe (3302) heading into Thursday's final three events. Lela Nelson
of Eastern Michigan is third at 3003, while Vanderbilt's Josie Hahn (Clinton, Tenn.) was fourth at 2986.

Fountain, coached by former Lady Vol multi-event standout Tonya Lee, will attempt to wrap up the title as the 13 contestants
battle in the long jump, javelin throw and 800-meter run on Thursday. The first event begins at 4 p.m.

The distance carnival also gets underway on Thursday night, as the women will run the Invitational 3000 meters at 6:30 p.m., the
Invitational 5000 meters at 7:15 p.m. and the 10,000 meters at 8:50 p.m. Lady Vols Erin Anderson (Jr., Kent, Ohio) and Katie
Flaute (Fr., Dayton, Ohio) will run in the 3K and 5K, respectively.